For my first engagement, I conducted an interview with Ms. Suman Tripathi, the Global Sourcing Manager of Lindex, a Swedish fashion chain. Although based in Sweden, Lindex sources much of its textiles from Bangladesh, making Ms. Tripathi a representative of a key stakeholder in the industry. She also represents the buyer within the supply chain, one of two key cogs in the machine that is the supply chain (the other being the manufacturer).

Before the engagement, I made sure to get acquainted with the industry by talking to my dad’s friend, the man who helped me get in touch with Ms. Tripathi. I found this to be very useful, as it made sure I had some background knowledge before heading into the interview. I also made sure to read up on Lindex’s sustainability initiatives and their annual sustainability reports before the interview. If anything, this was the most fruitful part of my preparation. I found that much of my discussion with Ms. Tripathi consisted of going over specific initiatives and figures, and if I hadn’t read up on those beforehand, I would’ve been unable to have as productive a conversation.

As a whole, I found the interview to be very fruitful, and it went on for considerably longer than I anticipated. I went in with a series of guiding questions with the intention of asking those questions to spark a conversation, and then taking the discussion from there. I think this more spontaneous approach allowed me to ask richer and more relevant questions, which gave me richer and more relevant answers from Ms. Tripathi. Like I said, much of the discussion consisted of Ms. Tripathi talking me through key sustainability initiatives by Lindex, be it WE Women, WaterAid, CottonConnect, or The Accord. Going into these in-depth wouldn’t make much sense here, but what I can say is that it was great to get a slightly more subjective view of these initiatives from someone who is very knowledgeable about them. I learnt quite a bit that I wouldn’t have been able to learn solely by looking at Lindex’s website.

If anything, my biggest takeaway from the interview was the fact that I will not at all have a shortage of things to talk about in my report, and will actually have to do a fair bit of trimming, such was the extent of the information I gathered. Going in, I wasn’t sure how much exactly existed on the topic, but this engagement gave me a great insight into the sustainability considerations the buyer has to consider, and these sustainability considerations are extensive. It’s easy to think of sustainability as something that’s very linear and one-dimensional, but this engagement showed me that that could not be further from the truth; sustainability in today’s world is truly multi-faceted.